KnightForce One Read online

  Asia’s heart dropped. “So we have a connection between, Ruth, Herbert and Madison.”

  “Could be Madison called here for Ruth,” Tyrese said, glancing at Danielle.

  “Neighbors could’ve missed her visit,” Meeks added.

  “Why would Madison call Ruth?” Day asked, looking at Meeks and Fogg. “What am I missing?”

  Tyrese explained a possible romantic connection.

  “There are three more bombs, we cannot allow another explosion like this one. We just can’t. So let’s tear this place apart, examine everything.” She looked at Day. “Did forensics find anything at Ruth’s that could help us?”

  “Not yet. They’re still at it,” he said pulling on another pair of gloves and then headed to the kitchen.

  A few minutes later, Day walked into the guest bedroom where she scanned the wall, holding a ring of keys. “Found these in an empty can in the cupboard. Two of these look like padlock keys.”

  “Danielle, did you see any bills for a locker or storage company?” she asked. Danielle and Tyrese were in the third bedroom which had been turned into an office, along with a technician going through papers.

  “Storage? No. But this is strange.” She walked into the room and handed Asia a crinkled receipt.

  “This is for a portable cooler? Where did he buy it?” She flipped the paper over searching for a name or number but it had been torn off.

  “Found this piece of paper with these numbers in his trash,” Tyrese showed her.

  “Call each one, find out if they sell the cooler.”

  Tyrese nodded and pulled out his phone. Asia stared at the receipt and contacted Hawke.

  “The flesh covered bombs in Maryland weren’t refrigerated, do they need to be?”

  “Yes, once they’re activated, they must be installed within a month or goes bad. You found more?”

  “No.” She explained the receipt and their limited findings so far.

  “Could be the bombs are activated and ready for installment. That process can be done in an hour or so if there are no complications.”

  “You keep saying activated, what do you mean?” She held up her finger to Tyrese when he started to speak.

  “The bombs you saw in Maryland weren’t fully assembled. There are a couple additional steps before those could be used. If they’re refrigerated, chances are the steps have been taken and they’re ready for the initiator to be installed but that doesn’t happen until the bomb is implanted. Until then, whatever you have is just parts, not too dangerous.”

  “They don’t have to be handled in a specific way?”

  “Not really, if they’re in a container, they’re packed to be moved and should be safe.”

  “Thanks, talk to you later.” She turned to Tyrese. “What you got?”

  “Last Monday, a portable cooler was purchased, one guy paid cash, two others helped carry the large box to the car. These things weigh almost forty pounds and can be plugged into a car or electrical outlet.”

  “That would explain moving from Maryland to Virginia,” Meeks said.

  “One of the descriptions matched Madison,” Tyrese continued. “On the other two he was vaguer except to say the one who paid wore a Yankee baseball cap and walked with a limp. Only one person talked and he looked like a hippie, long hair and beard.”

  Asia tilted her head, remembering the older man standing behind the woman and little girl in Maryland. Danielle hadn’t been there with her camera. At the time Asia had been thinking of Sarita but in retrospect the man looked out of place for that area.

  “Danielle, did you take pictures of the crowds today?” She asked thinking it made sense for to see the completion of the job.

  “Some not a lot, anything in particular you want me to look for?” She placed her small notebook on the table and inserted the card.

  “Yeah, a man like the one Tyrese described. Caucasian, older, long hair. I saw someone like that in Maryland, he may have been in the crowd today.”

  “Okay.” Danielle sat and booted her computer.

  Day handed her the bag. Asia stared at the keys inside. “There’s a locker somewhere, Madison hid these keys for a reason. Where would you stash a big refrigerated box?” she murmured.

  “He could drive around with it in his SUV,” Fogg said.

  Asia squeezed the keys. “No. Too risky, if there was an accident or anything, the police, all kinds of questions.” She looked at the keys. “Do storage places offer electricity?”

  “Not normally,” Day said. “I’ll check the area for any that do, can’t be that many.”

  “This was hidden in a can in the cupboard. Someone’s coming for this key,” Asia said smiling. “My guess is those bombs have a shelf life and he’ll need to get them out soon. We scanned for electronics earlier and didn’t find any. Tyrese, make sure we don’t leave it that way. Keep it low key in case they’re watching the house. When Forensics is gone, I want someone camped nearby with eyes and ears.”

  Chapter 13

  The next couple days, Asia’s team carried out their due diligence, tracked every lead, took statements, searched databases, nothing led them closer to finding a suspect. During that time no one visited the house.

  Danielle and Asia searched the photos for the long haired man and came up empty. Maybe she hadn’t seen him in Maryland after all, she was no longer sure. Worse, Asia needed to see Hawke and made plans to return home in the morning if nothing happened tonight. Her nerve endings screamed for contact with her mate and she wondered if working with KnightForce was in her future. Tyrese would handle the investigation until she returned.

  That night, Tyrese and Asia were in one SUV a block over from Madison’s house. Fogg, Day and Meeks were in another vehicle a couple blocks in the other direction.

  “Someone’s in the house,” Tyrese said. “They had a key, came in the back, haven’t moved out the kitchen.”

  “Looks like they know about the hidden keys,” Asia said. They had added tracking devices into the keys. “Alright, wake up the team, they’re on the move.” Whoever entered the house covered their face and wore dark clothes, so she couldn’t identify them but saw them walk briskly out the house.

  “Asia?”

  “Mistress?”

  “Wait. Whatever you’re doing, stop and wait a minute.”

  Asia frowned. “Ma’am?” She turned off the car. The other car had the coordinates as well and would follow the tracking devices inside the keys.

  “Don’t ask me to explain it. A feeling came over me that you needed to wait a few minutes. I have no idea what you’re doing…”

  Asia told her about the op.

  “Oh, well… sorry if I messed that up but maybe it was a trick and the real person is coming later.” Jasmine sighed long and loud. “I don’t know. This never happened before.”

  “Thank you, Mistress. I’ll be home in the morning and we can talk about it then.” Asia closed her eyes and told Tyrese what his mom said.

  “When we were kids she used to get those feelings, most of the time she was on the money.”

  “Right or wrong, don’t matter. Mistress says wait, we wait,” she said and leaned against the headrest.

  Thirty minutes later Tyrese chuckled. “That’s my mama. Someone just entered the house and is walking through the rooms. I can’t make out their face, though.”

  “Grab your scanner and let’s go.” Eager to catch someone and get answers, Asia’s heart raced as they left the truck. They ran forward, cutting through the neighbor’s yard, edging against the side of the neighbor’s house.

  The scanner lit up.

  Frowning, Asia followed Tyrese toward the front. Next to the car sat a portable cooler.

  She held her breath as Tyrese lifted the lid, inside were three bombs. He handed her the scanner, picked up the cooler and left at a brisk pace in the direction of their vehicle. Asia wiped her face with her palm and stared at the late model truck in the driveway. What the hell was going on? That old
lady was involved with all this? She paused, thinking of Corrina Griggs and her radical group. La Patron thought the group died with its leader, maybe they needed to rethink the possibility of a fringe group.

  The door to Madison’s front door closed. Asia slid into the shadow of the carport. Mrs. Beeman walked with a slow, steady gait toward the car. When she turned the corner, she stopped and looked around for the case. “What the hell?” she murmured looking up and down the dark quiet street.

  Tired and disgusted at being fooled, Asia stepped from the shadows.

  The older woman’s mouth dropped, she fumbled with her purse and pulled out a phone. Asia stepped forward and punched her in the face. The phone clattered to the ground.

  Mrs. Beeman hit the concrete and didn’t move.

  Chapter 14

  When Angus arrived, his chalky white skin and uncharacteristic weakness scared Silas. Jasmine went into battle mode demanding Hawke fix the problem immediately. Hawke examined Angus and gave him three pints of blood immediately. Volunteers lined up to supply the necessary fluid since it wasn’t something that happened often. Rumors flew through the compound of vampires draining Angus or the rebels doing the deed. Silas hadn’t said anything because he didn’t know what happened.

  Angus lay on the bed, still out of it. After giving him blood, Angus shifted to his wolf to help heal. Within the past hour he lay in human form. Silas sat in the chair next to Angus waiting for him to wake. Questions flew around his mind, he needed answers.

  Jacques searched the internet and there were a couple groups who believed in Shifters who searched for proof, blood being one. Silas hoped this wasn’t a new thing and set things in motion to have those groups infiltrated. It would take time but he needed to know if there were a new breed of poachers stealing blood. His gut twisted at the thought. Did he wake up in an alternate reality? Senseless bombings, blood robbers, what the hell was next? He and his pack simply wanted to live in peace, but that wouldn’t happen.

  He dropped his forehead onto his fingertips, and offered a prayer to the Goddess for his brother’s full recovery.

  “As long as you don’t start snoring, you can sleep in that chair.”

  Silas smiled and met Angus’ gaze. “I wasn’t sleep. How do you feel?”

  “Like someone beat my ass while I was asleep. What the hell happened?” Angus asked sitting up.

  Silas shook his head. “Don’t know, last we talked you were waiting for the rebels to rescue you from the dead. That was four days ago. This is the first conversation we’ve had since then.”

  Angus frowned. “That’s right, Colorado. The fight with the rebels.” He looked at Angus. “We kicked their asses by the way.”

  Silas laughed. “Never doubted it for a minute.”

  Angus closed his eyes and leaned back. “But that’s all I remember. The rest is blank.” He looked at Silas. “Did Asia and Tyrese find anything else about the rebels?”

  “No, things got crazy after that.” Silas told Angus about the bombs, the request for help from the government and the neighbor next door.

  Angus shook his head. “So the old woman next door had the bombs and was on her way to install the next one?”

  Silas nodded. “Yes. She was a retired nurse and had installed the first two. But she’s not the head of the group, someone else is. But our part was over once we found the bombs. Asia turned the case over to Meeks and Fogg and came home. Got here this morning. She and Rese were upset we didn’t tell them about you being missing.”

  “Did Jasmine agree with you to keep it a secret?” Angus asked in a teasing tone.

  “Fuck you.” He paused. “Yeah, she agreed, after she told them it was for the best, that settled it.”

  Angus laughed. “For what it’s worth, I agree they didn’t need to know during the op, might have distracted them. But you created another problem.”

  Silas’ brow rose.

  “You loaned a team of specialist to the US government who tracked down a group of bombers in three days. There was no way the humans could’ve done what the team did. Asia used the chameleon bracelet and our innate hunting abilities gave us an edge humans don’t have. Be prepared for them to ask for your help again, often. KnightForce –”

  “Wasn’t created to help the human government, but to help my Alphas across the country. We have enough problems on our own, I’m not going to keep bailing them out of trouble.”

  “Sometimes their troubles can become our troubles, pack blood was shed during the bombings,” Angus said.

  “Not KnightForce, that’s not what you’re for,” Silas said in a low tone. Allowing Asia and Tyrese to help find the bombs had been risky, one he took knowing it would alert the Feds of their increased capabilities. Unfortunately, Corinna Griggs had been his problem, one he thought he’d fixed. Now the Feds had the bombs and as far as he was concerned they could handle it from there.

  Angus stared at him for a few seconds. “Okay, but we need to structure it better. Maybe split the country into quadrants, each of us take a section; develop a team.”

  “As long as you use this compound as home base that will work,” Silas said, liking the idea.

  “How can we work effectively like that? If my section is on the upper west coast, I should live there.”

  “No. Develop it in a way that all of you are here. Use the Alpha trainees who haven’t been picked up by an Alpha yet. Train them here as your second, or third in command. Let them patrol the areas constantly but I need the three of you here.”

  “Why?”

  Silas met his brother’s curious gaze. “Not that I have to explain myself.”

  Angus nodded.

  Rather than explain, Silas opened their link and allowed the anguish he’d suffered during the loss of their connection to buffet Angus. His heart had broken at the thought of losing his litter-mate.

  Angus closed his eyes and then reopened them a few seconds later. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

  “Your wolf wouldn’t respond. There was nothing, and then they took your blood.”

  “What? Is that why I felt so tired, like wading through mud?” Angus struggled to sit straight up.

  “Probably,” Silas said.

  Neither spoke. Silas sensed Angus’ confusion. “We’re looking into it.”

  Angus nodded and turned his head away.

  Unsure what to say, Silas remained in the chair, offering comfort in silence.

  Chapter 15

  Jasmine and Asia sat at the table on the patio watching their children run around on the playground.

  “What did you and Hawke decide?” Jasmine asked and then took a sip of cold lemonade.

  “Hawke doesn’t think I’ll be happy unless I’m in the field. It’s what I’ve been trained to do and I’m good at it.”

  “True. I hear a but…” Jasmine smiled, knowing this was a difficult discussion for her friend but a necessary one. Angus was on the mend and wanted to structure KnightForces. He needed to know if Asia would be a part or not. So far she had refused to give a straight answer; last night Silas asked Jasmine to talk to her.

  “Not being able to mind-link proved a challenge. Tyrese had to walk across the parking lot to tell me they found the car. It was like working with the humans.”

  “Maybe that’ll be your strength,” Jasmine said.

  “Huh?” Asia pulled her attention from the kids on the swings. “Strength, how?”

  “Since you cannot communicate mentally with your team, in public around humans, you’ll blend better. They’ll see everyone talking to you, updating you on everything instead of it appearing like you just know things.”

  Asia stared at her for a few minutes and then laughed. “The things you say, Mistress. Shocking but true. Not that I want to work with the humans, but you make a good point. We did blend in well during the investigation because I had to talk, to explain, and give directions. If we could mind-link it might’ve looked odd.”

  Jasmine laughed. “Might have. I
magine a group of people not talking but working in sync, reminds me of an alien movie. Trust me, it would’ve made the news, someone would’ve noticed.”

  Asia shook her head. “You’re right, I hadn’t thought of it in that light.” She paused. “But I can’t be separated from Hawke for long periods.”

  “Then don’t. Either he’ll come to you, or you come home for a short visit. Silas understands that part of it. You and Tyrese are in a similar boat. Sometimes Danielle won’t be able to travel and they’ll make similar arrangements.”

  “She was a big help on the last job,” Asia said of Danielle. “I hope she can travel more.”

  Jasmine smiled. Her daughter-in-law loved the excitement in the field and would go with Tyrese on as many assignments she could. She covered Asia’s hand and met her gaze. “We need to know what you want to do, whatever it is will be okay, but we need to know so we can move forward with the plans.”

  Asia inhaled and then released it slowly. “I want to be a part of KnightForce.”

  Jasmine clapped her hands and sent Silas a message. Standing, she and Asia embraced and then walked arm in arm to the playground.

  “Mommy, come push me,” Sarita, Asia’s daughter called from her seat in the swing. Adam, Jasmine’s son ran behind the swing and pushed.

  “Stop it Adam, I want mommy to push me,” Sarita yelled kicking her feet until Asia stood behind her and gave her a gentle push.

  Adam ran across the courtyard, and grabbed his ball. “David come play ball with me.”

  David stood from the table where Renee sat coloring and headed toward Adam to play basketball.

  Jackie sat in the other swing and looked at Jasmine expectantly. Laughing, she pushed her daughter even though she knew Jackie could swing just fine without her help.

  Damian entered the playground and waved. “Come play ball with us,” Adam yelled.

  “Okay, give me a minute,” he said and walked toward Asia and Jasmine. He stood on the side of the swing. “Just wanted to let you know, Angus approved my application for KnightForce.” He smiled and then hooped, throwing a fist in the air.